Free Republic

The first Church of England vicar to undergo a sex-change operation returned to a warm welcome from parishioners on Sunday. Around 100 people attended the service at St Philip's Church in Upper Stratton, Swindon, Wiltshire. =="After almost 23 years of preaching I felt like a young curate again preparing for one's first sermon." Ms Stone, who has been married twice and has a daughter, was dressed in purple robes and wore a pair of gold ear-rings She compared her return to a scene from the classic children's tales of Pooh bear by A A Milne.